🥘🥘🥘🥘🥘
RECIPE FOR A CHARMED LIFE
Rachel Linden
384 pages
Berkley Publishing
January 29, 2024
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Was this predictable? Check. Did I know how this was going to end? Check. Did I care? Nope. This was a delicious book, in every sense of the word. It was heartwarming and light, without being too light. It tackled important themes: how can family be so complicated, how good people can make bad decisions, what is truly important in life, how guilt can take over your life. And honestly, if this book had a different kind of ending, I would have set fire to my Kindle! Sometimes, you need a happy ending (though I would probably call this bittersweet, really).
A young woman who is a chef gets as far away from home as she can get, to Paris, where she pursues her dream. When she was young, her mother had abandoned the family and this young chef reconnects with her mother. She also finds a love interest with issues of his own. All of the above themes come into play, with some magical realism along the way (which I happen to adore, when done well).
Is this book going to win any Pulitzers or Bookers? No. But I will remember this and treasure this story for a long time to come.
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